


Beating the Odds

by Tarlan



Category: Star Wars Original Trilogy
Genre: Gen, Violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 1997-10-28
Updated: 1997-10-28
Packaged: 2017-10-12 22:36:53
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,573
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/129874
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tarlan/pseuds/Tarlan
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Han gets into deep trouble, Chewbacca has to go to the rescue.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Beating the Odds

**Author's Note:**

> A golden oldie written many years ago!

Valeria II. A beautiful name for a planet, but if there was one thing Han Solo had learned during his short life it was never to make any assumptions based on a name; Florabunda had been a dust bowl and Drudgehole the most beautiful world he had seen this side of the Corporate Sector.

The on-board computer had identified the Valerian system from the thousands of others held in its memory bank, but Solo did not need to read through the reams of descriptive data that flowed across the small screen; he had visited Valeria several times over the past three years. His hands glided effortlessly across the control panel, flicking switches and pressing keys in a sequence that had become so ingrained he needed no conscious effort. Solo smiled wryly as he realized how his luck had held out once more.

The Millennium Falcon had dropped out of hyperspace suddenly, into the gravitational pull of the system's star, and it had taken all of his skill to avoid being dragged into the fiery mass. Anything could have caused the problem within the navigation computer from a tiny speck of dust to a burnt out circuit board, but Solo suspected it was something more insidious; a software rather than a hardware fault. To be honest, the Falcon was in bad need of a complete overhaul, but that cost more money than he and Chewie could pool between them. Solo gave a reassuring grin to his co-pilot as the Falcon settled into its docking bay, but knew he could not fool Chewbacca. They had both heard many tales of ships jumping through black holes or into stars while at light speed due to some computational error, although few could be proved as there was rarely anything left to examine.

It was here that the second piece of luck had become apparent. If they had jumped out of hyperspace a few minutes later they would have found themselves near the centre of Garvin's Hole; an area of space devoid of any stars let alone planets. It would have taken the Falcon two long years to crawl to the closest habitable planet in normal space for, as reckless as he was, even Solo would not have been so stupid as to risk the hyperdrive again until the programming had been debugged. However, his infamous Corellian luck *had* held once more, and they had jumped out within the Valerian star system.

The third piece of luck concerned the planet itself. Valeria was a small world but it contained some of the greatest software engineers in the galaxy. It seemed strange to Solo that this technical expertise was not complimented by mechanical skills; the Valerians could program with exceptional ability yet they couldn't build the hardware to run the programs. Only a few of the Valerians used their programming skills, the rest were content to farm or barter around the huge spaceports. Consequently, Valeria II was an odd mixture of peasants and technocrats. No 'alien' life form ever ventured beyond the limits of the space port for there was, literally, nothing worth seeing.

Detaching the Falcon's navigation computer took the best part of the day; finding a place to have the part repaired took the rest. Eventually, having left the valuable item in the capable hands of a Master Programmer, Han and Chewie wandered off towards the nearest bar. As much as he loved the Falcon, the chance to walk on solid ground was never passed up lightly, but there was another reason for leaving the comparative safety of the ship; the Corellian liked to know who was in town.

The first bar they came across was the type of dingy hole that Solo favored. The interior was fairly dark and the tiny pinpoints of light in the ceiling gave the bar its name: The Starlight. The only other light in the place was focused on a young female who sat on a stool in the center of a small circular platform, her voice softly crooning an old Republic love ballad to a small, disinterested audience. Han picked up his drink from the bar and made his way through the almost empty room to a table near the edge of the raised platform. This table was partially concealed in the shadows, but Han preferred the darkness as it made him less of a target to any potential troublemakers. The Wookie followed and lowered his large form into the seat opposite.

As the song came to an end, they joined in with the smattering of applause.

Taking encouragement from this show of interest, the girl started up with a more lively number and Han watched her as, with the motion of a well-trained dancer, she allowed only the top half of her slightly alien form to sway seductively in time with the music. Her movement attracted a little more interest from the clients, but by then her eyes had found Solo's and he found himself drowning in the huge violet pools.

********************

Chewie looked from the girl to Solo and hooted in despair. He couldn't understand why Solo allowed himself to become mesmerised by females, and had lost count of the number of times he had seen that same glazed expression upon his friend's face. He knew that, by this time tomorrow, Han would be gazing at someone new and Chewie doubted whether Han would even remember the colour of this female's startling violet eyes.

He shook his head in exasperation. He was not surprised at the interest shown by the female as he had been told Han Solo was considered to be very attractive by humanoid standards and, to be brutally honest, even *he* had been taken in by the Corellian's charm.

A glance around the interior showed that the place was still practically deserted, so there was virtually no chance of picking up a freight contract. With a soft hoot of resignation, he decided to leave his young human associate to enjoy more earthly pursuits while he returned to the Valerian workshop to check on the technicians. Although confident in their programming abilities, Chewbacca was concerned they might not put any effort into the work without some extra supervision, and neither of them wanted to spend too much time on this planet despite its obvious pleasures.

********************

The movement by his side brought Han's attention back to the Wookie. With another soft hoot Chewbacca told the Corellian his plans and Solo knew that he would be wasting his breath if he asked Chewie to stay, but to be honest, he knew that he might be leaving soon himself; with female company.

By the end of the next song, the young female's shy smile had become more open and it took only the slightest gesture from Solo to invite the girl to join him at his table. Before leaving the platform she glanced around the bar quickly, as if looking for someone, but Han never noticed, his attention focused on locating the nearest waitress.

As he ordered drinks for himself and his new companion, the waitress, another small humanoid female, stared at the singer in slight trepidation but the girl merely smiled back up at her as she accepted her drink. Solo hardly even noticed, as his attention was captured by the deep violet eyes of the young singer.

After the waitress had left them, Han struck up a conversation, skilfully using his entire repertoire of charm and flattery. The girl blushed at his words, her eyes all wide and innocent, and he hid a half smile of his own at the ease by which he had made a conquest. They talked until she was forced to resume her place on the platform for the second half of her act, and while the gentle voice crooned out another love ballad, Han took the final mouthful of his drink.

"Would you like another neejan?"

"Yeah, and one for Morena."

The waitress leaned over to remove the empty glasses and in a low voice she gave Solo a warning.

"I wouldn't get involved with her. Morena has a jealous master."

Han looked up at the waitress, and for the first time he noticed the long shapely tentacles that protruded from the back of her head. She reminded him of Jabba's second-in-command, Bib Fortuna. There was no doubt they were of the same species, but where Fortuna had an albino appearance, this female was closer to human norm with soft ivory and gray-colored skin, and eyes the colour of warm, dark chocolate.

It seemed strange to Han that the waitress should bother to warn him about the singer. He had done nothing to earn any consideration from her and, as he looked at her speculatively, his vanity decided that maybe she wanted him for herself. He gave the female a warm smile as his eyes trailed across her pretty but tired-looking face. Han Solo was not averse to the companionship of slightly more exotic females but he had already set his sights on the young singer, and in his slightly inebriated state he was not about to change course. He thanked the waitress for her concern and turned his attention back to his intended conquest.

The waitress sighed when she realised the Corellian was too drunk to take her advice. She silently prayed that Carreg would not show tonight, but moments later, she spotted him with some of his friends at the corner of the bar, looking balefully at the seated human. The waitress, Rianna, knew what that look meant. Valerian farmers were both ignorant and bigoted and they did not take kindly to 'aliens' flirting with their females but, whereas most would merely grumble, this particular group had been known to cause trouble. As an alien herself, Rianna had suffered her fair share of the verbal abuse dished out by these thugs, but she knew that others had suffered worse.

Several off-worlders had vanished over recent months, but neither the planetary nor the Imperial forces cared less. The rumors were that these off-worlders had been waylaid by Carreg's gang and murdered, and a recently overheard conversation had inferred that these off-worlders did not die quickly. As she gazed, surreptitiously, at the young Corellian, she wondered why she cared - but a glance back at Carreg and his men gave her a partial answer. Although she knew nothing of Solo, she considered him to be closer kin than the bigoted inhabitants of this planet. Nevertheless, there had been many other humanoids in the bar over recent months, and yet she had not felt this strange impulse to warn them of *their* danger.

Rianna brought the fresh drinks to Solo's table, and as she placed them in front of him, she glanced up into his face, expecting his attention to still be caught by the pretty singer. Instead, her dark, mysterious eyes met his and she looked away quickly, but not before seeing his hazel eyes crinkle up with a beautiful smile. As she made her way back to the bar, Rianna finally admitted to herself that it *was* her physical attraction to this human that was the cause of her concern for his well-being. She paused to look at him once more, but his face had already shifted from hers towards the singer who had joined him at his table. Morena, with her beautiful violet eyes and golden hair, turned her most devastating smile on the young Corellian, and so Rianna looked away in resignation, realizing that she could not compete with the singer.

She did not dwell on the human for long as the barman called her to fetch more empty glasses. Having cleared the tables close to the platform, Rianna turned her attention to those closer to the entrance, but with dismay she noticed that Carreg and his gang had left their place by the bar and had seated themselves near the main door. Keeping close to the shadows, she made her way towards the tables at the end of the bar. With luck Carreg would be too interested in the other aliens to notice her, but as her hand reached out to take the empty glass from his table, she felt his strong fingers grasp her wrist painfully.

Carreg tugged hard once and Rianna found her face only inches from the vicious Valerian.

"Please, let me go."

Carreg sneered at the alien woman, and with his other hand he grabbed one of her tentacles pulling it sharply downwards. Rianna could not prevent the small cry of pain as tears began to fill her eyes.

"Let her go."

The voice was deep and soft yet full of menace; it was the young Corellian. Carreg jolted upright at the sound; with his attention focused on the alien waitress he had forgotten all about Solo. A sneer crossed the Valerian's face, only to be replaced immediately by fear when he noticed the blaster pointing straight at his midsection. Carreg released the waitress and she quickly stepped away.

"We're just having a bit of fun. Aren't we, Rianna?"

Carreg turned away from Solo to look at the waitress, and Rianna easily read the threatening expression in his face but had no choice but to agree with Carreg: after all, she would still be here *long* after the Corellian had left this world. Solo lowered his blaster.

"Well, it didn't look like much fun from where I was sitting." Solo glanced at the waitress. "Are you sure you're alright?"

Rianna nodded, but her eyes told Solo that she was grateful. He nodded in return and flipped his blaster back into its holster.

"No hard feelings," he said to the large Valerian with a charismatic smile edged with a little hardness that lifted one side of his mouth more than the other.

Carreg smiled just as crookedly as Solo moved casually towards the entrance. The smile dropped the moment Solo left the bar and he turned, intending to take his anger out on the unfortunate waitress but found she had gone. He banged his fist on the table in frustration.

"I know where the 'alien' is docked."

Carreg looked up into the scarred face of one of his gang and a cruel smile crept across his own.

********************

After leaving the bar, Solo walked as quickly as possible back towards the Falcon and, as he walked, he shook his head in annoyance. The evening had started out with such promise and he had been certain he would be spending the next few hours curled up in bed with the beautiful singer. Unfortunately, her attention towards him had changed abruptly once she spotted the other Valerians in the bar. She had made excuses and turned away from him so fast that he could have sworn there was a hargcat on her tail, but not before he had seen the fear creep into her eyes. What was it the waitress had said? 'Morena has a jealous master'. Morena had changed the moment she set eyes on one particular Valerian. Was that man her master?

He had already started to make his way across the bar towards the entrance when that man had grabbed hold of the waitress, viciously. He silently cursed himself for getting involved, but she had seemed so helpless and pitiful, and he had been angry at the loss of a beautiful and willing bed partner. He realized his recklessness might have put *him* into grave danger, but then, what was new about that? Fervently, he hoped his interference hadn't made things worse for the waitress.

As he strode along the darkened streets, he vowed to himself that he would go back tomorrow morning and ask her if she wanted a free lift to another system. Many of the aliens on these backward planets had been dumped there by uncaring passenger ships and, as they couldn't afford the price of a ticket out, they ended up being stuck there for a long, long time; sometimes even for life.

His thoughts turned to poor Greedo. The creature had owned his own ship once, but had to sell it to pay back Jabba the Hutt. Now, Greedo was stuck on Tatooine with little chance of ever leaving that desert planet, but it could quite easily have been himself; Han had managed to beat Greedo to that last cargo. If Greedo had won the contract then Han would probably be working out his existence as one of Jabba's hired hands right now, and to Han Solo, that would have been a fate far worse than death.

The clink of metal against stone at the far end of the alleyway alerted Solo to possible danger. He stopped and listened. It would be quite easy for that gang of Valerians to ambush him on the way back to his ship as they would know all the shortcuts, but Solo had gambled on them not knowing which docking bay he was headed for. He waited quietly for several minutes listening for the slightest sound, but there was nothing more and so he cautiously moved forward, keeping to the deep shadows. When the attack came, Solo's reactions were too slow to prevent the rope tightening around his torso and pinning his arms against his sides. He couldn't reach his blaster and seconds later he was being dragged along the ground by a couple of humanoids. They stopped, suddenly, as a large figure detached itself from the shadows and swiftly pulled him up until his face was scant inches from his assailant. It was the Valerian from the bar. Han sneered, sarcasm dripping from his voice as he addressed his captor.

"We meet again. What an unexpected pleasure. I'd shake your hand but I'm a little tied up at the moment."

Carreg's face twisted into a sneer of his own as he acknowledged the offered sarcasm.

"This one thinks he's a comedian... but I don't hear anyone laughing."

The Valerian gazed upon his latest victim a moment longer, and then he spat into Solo's face, laughing as Solo's face hardened, watching the spittle run down the side of the Corellian's nose. Without further ceremony, he dropped Solo to the ground with a sucker punch and then ordered his henchmen to bring the winded man along, quietly.

Han began to struggle as two sets of arms reached for him. He managed a single yell before darkness closed in with the thud of wood against his skull.

********************

On overhearing the gang's plan to waylay the Corellian on the route back to his ship, Rianna slipped out of the bar with the intention of forewarning him, but she arrived too late and could only watch from the shadows as the human was bundled into the back of a landspeeder. She sighed and turned back to the bar, knowing there was nothing she could do to help him now, but then her eyes narrowed in thought as she remembered the towering, hairy anthropoid that had shared his table. Perhaps that creature would help. She quickly ran along several more alleyways until she reached the docking bay number that she had overheard. Slipping quietly through the entrance, she stood and looked at the large ellipsoid shape of the Millennium Falcon, wondering how anybody would have the courage to fly in such a battered-looking craft.

It was deathly quiet in the dimly lit interior of the bay but, taking a deep breath, she started towards the access port. Rianna stepped back in fear at the sudden movement within the ship's cockpit, her instincts telling her to turn and run, but, with more bravery than she had previously believed she possessed, she held her ground and waited.

The large Wookie came out, growling softly, his crossbow ready.

"Please, I am a waitress from the Starlight. You were with the Corellian. He is in grave danger."

Rianna took a step back as Chewbacca came quickly towards her. He barked loudly, questioningly but, on seeing her fear, he softened his tone. He was not certain if the female humanoid could understand him so he hooted, softly, a few more times. There was no sign of recognition on her face and, if anything, she seemed even more frightened and confused. He needed the translator. Chewbacca motioned for her to enter the ship and, reluctantly, she followed. Once inside he grabbed the translation device.

"What has happened to Solo?"

"Some Valerians have ambushed him. I think they mean to kill him."

"Where is he?"

"I don't know. They took off in a landspeeder."

Chewbacca sat down hard. How could he ever find Han on this alien world? He looked up at the female in despair and watched as she swallowed hard.

"The leader is a Valerian called Carreg. He has a farm on the outskirts of the port. They *might* have taken him there."

"You must show me the way."

"No, I cannot. I have done too much already, but I will write down the directions."

"There is no time. His life is at stake. You *must* show me the way."

Rianna swallowed hard. She had never intended to become so involved, but she knew the Corellian's fate might be hanging in the balance and, as she took in the pleading gaze in those warm, alien eyes she knew she could not walk away. Slowly, she nodded in defeat.

It took Chewbacca only a few minutes to obtain a landspeeder and within a few more they were approaching the edge of the port.

"I believe it lies this way."

The alien female pointed towards the south-east and Chewbacca quickly powered the speeder in that direction. Many more minutes passed before they spotted the outline of farm buildings on the distant horizon; black shapes against the heavy orange moon that hung low in the sky. Chewbacca stopped the vehicle in the shelter of a row of trees, deciding it would be better if he went the rest of the way on foot so as not to alert the Valerians of his approach. With a firm tone he ordered the waitress to stay in the speeder, and he waited until she had huddled down out of sight before he moved off.

Being careful to avoid being seen, Chewbacca ran from one form of cover to the next until, finally, he found himself flattened against the wall of the main farm building. The dwelling was dark, but a sudden sound of laughter drifted on the wind to be caught by his sensitive hearing. He turned in the direction of a large outbuilding. As quietly as possible, Chewbacca crept towards the sound and then lay flat against the wooden structure. He moved his head slowly until he could see inside.

At the far end, the dim light revealed a group of humanoids standing in a circle staring down at some object lying on the floor at its center. The sound of a whip cracked and, as the softest of moans reached him, Chewbacca felt the fear rise inside, wondering if that whip was falling upon the delicate flesh of his young captain. Chewbacca edged his way along the side of the building until he had reached the far end where the light was much stronger, and this time he carefully peeked around the frame of a partially-opened door. The sight that met his eyes brought a terrific roar of anger and despair from the Wookie. Chewbacca leaped into the barn, the blaster he had brought with him flared several times taking out four of the six humanoids. The other two quickly dived behind some boxes and fired back, their own shots passing harmlessly by the raging Wookie, who leapt aside to find shelter of his own.

Chewbacca dropped the hand-blaster and aimed the giant cross-bow. The projectile passed through the boxes like a hot knife through butter and the death scream of another humanoid filled the barn. There was one left, and Chewbacca knew exactly where he was. He had no time to wait for the other to make his move and so, with a giant roar, Chewbacca leaped over the metal obstacle to land squarely on the unprepared Valerian. The large man looked in terror at the sight of the rage-filled anthropoid, dropping his blaster and cowering on the stony floor. Chewbacca swept up the man's blaster and smashed the Valerian on the head. Without giving the man a second glance, Chewbacca vaulted back over the machinery and rushed over to the semi-naked figure lying motionless on the ground.

Han Solo was curled up on his side, a small pool of blood slowly spreading out beneath him from where it trickled from the deep lash marks across his body. Chewbacca howled in despair as he felt the cold, clammy skin, his large paw gently stroking the bruised and battered face, believing his human was dead. The light movement under his paw, and the small sound of a single ragged breath from the torn and bloodied lips brought a sobbing bark of joy from the Wookie. Han was still alive. The soft steps behind him made Chewbacca whip round, but he lowered the blaster when he saw Rianna raise her hands and beckoned her to come over quickly. Her hands leapt to her mouth when she saw the tortured body lying in the Wookie's arms. She stripped off her light cape and draped it over the human, and then she switched the translator back on.

Chewbacca growled and the sound was quickly translated.

"We must get him to the nearest medical center."

Rianna shook her head in despair. Despite the advanced computer culture, Valeria had few medical facilities, and those that did exist were fairly antiquated and poorly staffed for there were few medics.

"Wait here with him while I get the landspeeder."

Rianna watched the large creature lope off towards the trees where he had left the vehicle. She looked back down at the unconscious human, her hand reaching out to stroke the sweat- and blood-matted hair. A sudden movement made her jump, and she grabbed the hand-blaster that had been left behind by the Wookie.

A trickle of blood flowed down the side of Carreg's face adding a demonic appearance to his pale features. The blaster in his hand wavered slightly as he slowly approached the two aliens, but the sneer of contempt showed his intention. He stopped several feet away and aimed the blaster at the unconscious human, his finger tightening on the trigger.

Without hesitation, Rianna brought her own blaster up, watching as if from afar as a red beam leapt from the muzzle. The Valerian looked down at the hole drilled through his torso in total surprise, then he looked back up at the alien waitress he had intimidated on so many occasions, suddenly understanding his error in assuming she was no threat to him. He snarled in anger, raising the angle of his own blaster so that it was aimed straight at her face.

Rianna, still in shock from her own actions, found she couldn't move a muscle, her eyes locking with the Valerian's, but the blast never came. The Valerian's eyes glazed over and he crumpled to the floor at her feet.

Chewbacca raced in at the sound of the blaster, arriving just in time to see the Valerian fall. He gave the female a single glance and then dropped to the floor beside his human, realizing that he could not spare the time to comfort the shocked female. Wrapping Han carefully in Rianna's cloak, Chewbacca lifted the fragile human and started carrying him back to the speeder. He barked fiercely at the waitress when she made no effort to follow. Visibly, she pulled herself together, raced after him and climbed into the back seat. Chewbacca laid Han in the speeder so that his head was on Rianna's lap and then he squeezed himself back into the pilot's seat.

********************

The journey back took less time than the outward journey and, within minutes, Chewbacca was racing through the streets of the port searching for a medic. He stopped at the first sign and banged loudly on the door. The disgruntled medic opened the door and cried out in shock as a large furry arm grabbed him. Chewbacca pulled him over to the speeder where Han lay, and waited impatiently as the medic took several readings.

"He has extensive internal injuries as well as broken bones and fractures. There is nothing I - or anyone else on Valeria, for that matter - can do for him, but I can recommend a good funeral director... or an organ reaper."

The Valerian stepped back in fear at the bared teeth and vicious growl that emanated from the Wookie. Chewbacca wasted no more time. He jumped back into the speeder and headed for the Falcon, thankful that he had finished re-installing the navigation computer earlier. Forum V was only a short jump away - two timeparts at worst - but, more importantly, it had an advanced medical centre. It was Solo's only hope.

Rianna did not argue when the Wookie ushered her quickly on board the Falcon. She thought, momentarily, of her few possessions laying in a seedy little room at the back of the Starlight bar, and then realized how worthless they were compared to this ride off-planet.

Chewbacca laid Solo gently on his own large bed and ordered Rianna to stay with the human while he powered up the Falcon. Seconds later the Falcon had cleared the atmosphere and left Valeria far behind.

********************

The computations for Forum V took several long minutes for the Wookie, but the Falcon did not fail him when he pushed her up to lightspeed. As soon as he was certain the Falcon was on course, Chewbacca raced back to his friend's side. He paused in the doorway, watching as the female dabbed ineffectively at some of the wounds, using a bowl of warm water and a towel she had found in the nearby refresher unit. She looked up at the distraught Wookie, shaking her head slowly, but he hardly noticed her presence.

Chewbacca spent the next few hours holding Han's hand and growling soft reassurances whenever Solo appeared restless. He bathed the hot forehead with cool water, his fear increasing with every passing second that Han would die before they reached Forum. The smell of hot mujella assailed his nostrils and he gratefully accepted the drink from Rianna. He had almost forgotten about her; concentrating only on the sound of ragged breathing coming from his injured friend.

The Falcon's computer suddenly broke the silence with the warning that they had almost reached Forum. Chewbacca looked up into the tired eyes of the alien female and, with a soft hoot and a nod, he asked her to take care of Solo while he navigated the Falcon into the spaceport. Even before landing, Chewbacca had conveyed his medical requirements to the centre and he found the ambulance waiting just inside the docking bay doors.

********************

The rest of the journey was like a half-remembered dream. The next time Chewbacca made a conscious thought was while he sat in the medical centre, quietly watching as Han floated in the Bacta chamber. The curved glass magnified the welts that covered the human's torso, but Chewbacca knew these whip marks were nothing compared to the internal injuries. The medical droid had knitted the breaks and fractures, but only the Bacta could encourage the various cells to regenerate and repair the rest of the damage. However, Han *would* live.

Rianna still remained by his side, but the events of the past day had caught up with her and she slept soundly. It suddenly occurred to Chewbacca that he had given no thought to the alien female. The long grey-white tentacles twitched and Chewbacca reached out to stroke the girl's face, giving a semblance of a smile as she settled down under his gentle touch. Questions formed in his mind but he found that he could not concentrate on answering them, as all of his energy was taken up by that small figure floating restlessly in the chamber in front of him. Chewbacca knew that he would find no peace until he could hear Han's voice once more.

********************

At some time during the long Forum night, Chewbacca slept. When he awoke, Rianna was gone. A small communication disk had been left and Chewbacca slotted it into the nearest communicator, watching intently as the small face of the alien female filled the tiny screen.

/When you hear this you will know that I have gone. Please forgive me for the trouble I have caused. If he had not defended me in the bar then he might have avoided Carreg. I do wish to thank you for bringing me with you to Forum V. I have dreamed of being able to escape from Valeria, although I am saddened by the way in which my dream came true. I have found members of my own race who are willing to help me return to my homeworld. May the Force be with you./

Chewbacca took out the disk and turned it over in his large paws. She was wrong. Han would have managed to get into trouble all by himself. Had it not been for Rianna's assistance, Chewie would not have known of Han's predicament, and he would *never* have found Han in time had she not shown him the way.

Chewbacca sighed, hooting softly to himself. He had wanted to thank her - although, deep down, he knew he could never have repaid all that he felt he owed. Han was irreplaceable, and Chewbacca was still trying to come to terms with the immense depth of grief he had felt when he had believed that this human was dead. Those few minutes had been the hardest moments of his long life.

Chewbacca knew the type of business they were in meant that death could come quickly to either of them at any time, and yet, he had never truly envisaged that it *could* happen. Han had always been able to talk or blast his way out of danger before, and the thought that his luck might have run out to a small band of barely civilized humanoids on a backward world had chilled Chewbacca to the soul. He had always believed that this human was destined for far greater things.

Chewie knew that he would not be able to find Rianna as he couldn't leave Han. Not yet, not while the young human was so defenseless. Carefully, he placed the communication disk into a small pocket on his bandolier. One day their paths might cross again, and Chewbacca wanted to make sure that he never forgot the face of this friend.

********************

Han floated in a strange sea of dreams. He felt the respirator that covered his mouth forcing him to breathe, felt the pinching sensation on his blocked nose which brought a weird kind of reality to his dream of drowning as his limbs swayed in the currents formed by air bubbles. He tried to reach the surface, but his limbs were too heavy and merely twitched slowly. The pain in his body seemed to be receding little by little and he gradually forced his mind to the surface of sleep. His eyes opened into tiny slits, and he felt the warm liquid seep through his eyelashes.

The strange sensation frightened him and he screwed his eyes closed. His mind started to turn in circles. Where was he? Why was he here? Where was Chewie? Snapshots of scenes filled his mind; a bar basking in starlight; the melancholy voice of a pretty girl with large violet eyes that turned all dark and mysterious; a sneering face with a crooked smile and eyes like flint. Who were these people?

Han tried to move his hand up to remove the respirator. There was a dull ache on his chin beneath the mask and his lips felt stiff and raw. He partially opened his eyes once more and saw images of men dancing around him, pulling at his clothes, punching, kicking, pushing, tearing....

Han thrashed harder but his movements were absorbed by the liquid. He felt two of the men grab hold of his arms and he thrashed, once more, but the images would not let go. A fist connected with his mouth and he doubled over as blows hit his abdomen. He was dropped to the floor, but he was not quick enough to avoid the heavy boots that buried themselves in his side and stomach. A sharp pain as another kick caught him on the left side of his lower back, rupturing a kidney. The laughter and jeering increased with the crack of a whip that lay a path of fire across his vulnerable flesh as it fell from head to toe.

As he continued to thrash, he thought he could hear Chewie barking at him from a great distance and stilled as the barking, howl of rage and despair swept over him. Han opened his eyes fully and, through the strange liquid and curved glass, he saw Chewie... and he wept.

********************

When the thrashing started Chewbacca had run over to the chamber, barking and howling loudly with the hope his friend would hear him and shake off the terrible panic or dream that had gripped him so tightly.

Seconds later the medical droid was at the monitor, inputting commands to the chamber control. Its head tilted alarmingly when the thrashing stopped suddenly, and it turned to view its patient, noticing that its patient now seemed both awake and aware of his surroundings. Increased agitation began to affect the monitor, sending a soft, insistent 'beep' resonating around the room. The medical droid had seen this adverse reaction before and knew the patient had to be removed from the Bacta, even though the life-saving liquid had not completed its job; the psychological effects of being immersed were obviously detrimental to this patient's mental stability. The droid was not overly concerned though, as the Bacta had done enough. Most of the injuries had been repaired and the regenerated cells would work on the rest, although at a slower pace.

********************

Han felt his body rising up out of the liquid. He was weak and tired, but still had enough energy to rip away the nose-block before the medical droid could get to him. The smell of the Bacta filled Solo's senses and he nearly gagged. Han heard rather than felt the hiss of the hypo against his neck and found himself relaxing as he was laid almost horizontal onto a slightly angled, high-sided table. The medical droid quickly replaced the nose-block, but - having smelled the Bacta once - Han was loathe to smell it again so he did not try to remove it a second time. Moments later he felt another warm liquid flowing over him, but this time it was mainly water and he reveled in the feel of the slightly slimy Bacta being sluiced from his skin. Once he was clean, the water flow stopped to be replaced by a stream of warm air.

His mind drifted away and when he next became aware, he felt a warm furry pressure on his hand. Han opened his eyes.

"Chewie?"

The barely whispered name carried across to the sensitive Wookie and, as Chewbacca looked into his friend's eyes, he knew they had beaten the odds once more... and was at peace.

THE END


End file.
